Yeah, I need another one-on-one story like I need a hole in the head. But plot bunnies are insidious and will breed uncontrolably if not kept under tight security. A friend of mine who likes IMing me links to pictures, especially cyberpunk-style images, sent me the above one. Unfortunately it reminded me of a webcomic called Threading. The comic was great, would have been really amazing, but only runs for 22 pages. I hate that. I mean I can understand that the artist maybe had too many demands on her time, or just got bored with the whole idea, but it was such a great concept, the characters were interesting, and it made me want to know what was going on...

Oh well. can't be helped... Anyway, the above pic reminded me of the comic and both got together and produced plot-bunnies...

The Idea

Okay so taking elements from the webcomic and combining them with elements from that image, I've come up with the following setting. Space Travel between stars is possible, but it is only accomplished by a rather strange and intimate three-way relationship between a powerful but non-sentient computer (In this reality, while humanity have tried to make a self-aware Artificial Intelligence, they have been unable to), a human Pilot and a human cyborg navigator.

The navigator plugs herself into the computer, uses it's reaction time to plot a safe course through the artificial worm-holes that the ship's star-drive creates - The wormholes are always created in a seeming tangled mess, with branches and mergers, multiple exits and multiple entrances, basically representing different possibilities. The navigator must successfully find the correct path through this maze and inform the pilot which turns to take.

The Pilot actually flies the ship, her reactions being genetically augmented to be able to take the appropriate action at the appropriate time. This of course is a highly skilled profession and Pilots are generally trained in the skill from birth.

The Navigator, on the other hand, is not skilled, she is programmed. The computer does all the real work, and all the navigator is really there for is to provide the self-awareness that the computer does not have, the ability to reason and think, and the ability to use instinct. Navigators are often criminals or those with no other means of support. They are sometimes volunteers, but more-often are forced into the role with the only other choice being a slow death through starvation, or being pushed out of an airlock.

The navigator is, technically, the property of her pilot.

The other rather strange thing about wormhole piloting and navigation is that only women can do it. Men have tried of course. Men who tried to interface with the pilot computers were driven insane. Men who were given pilot training and the augmented reaction turned into either muscle-bound apes with zero intelligence (so no real noticeable difference, then?), thus totally incapable of piloting the ship, or they became a jittering hyperactive mass of twitching nerves with out the necessary control.

The one other interesting fact about this form of space-travel is that in order to function as a unit, the Pilot and Navigator must be close... Meaning they must share everything, including a bed. Meaning they must be sexually intimate. Otherwise the bond that needs to be there between them while flying, simply won't exist.

The Story

So, having given you the detailed universe that this has conjured up in my head, let's build a story in it.

A young pilot, just turned 18 Standard Years Old, has just qualified top of her class. She has excelled on all the simulators in the school and has made several training flights with an instructor and the Instructor's navigator. And now it is time for her first solo flight. But before she can make this flight, she must choose her navigator, the slave-woman who will be her soul-mate, her most intimate companion, so close that, when linked via the computer, they actually share each other's thoughts.

And then we have the navigator, fresh out of programming, the holes in her scalp still sore, the scars still red. She, too has been through the simulators, The chip in her head has been programmed with how to navigate a worm-ship. She didn't qualify top. There is no ranking for the Navigators, they either pass one-hundred percent or they fail. And if they fail.... *shrug* She is just one of a number on offer today from the navigator Programming Facility.

The pilot gets to choose which of the women and girls she wants. Because she graduated top, she gets first pick. So of course, she chooses the other character (otherwise there is no story).

And we can foll.ow them through their first solo flight in a trainer ship, then the pilot has to get a job... She might go for a freighter, or a passenger ship, or she might join the military... This is something we can talk about. The military seems like a fun option though...

The Player

So, as usual I am after a female player. (Unless I offer you this story personally by directing you here, but there will be very few who get that).

You may choose either role. I have a slight preference for playing the navigator, but it is only slight. I will happily play the Pilot for the right player.

You must be willing to keep the story moving forward, not just react to my post, but proactively bring ideas and details into the story. You must be prepared to discuss the finer points, talk about what is going to happen next, and generally share the workload of writing.

I usually post between 300 and 800 words (2 to 5 paragraphs) per post and I expect the same in reply. Definitely no one-liners.

If you are interested

Please either post here, or send me a PM with the word "Wormhole" somewhere in it. PMs saying "I just saw your idea" will be replied to with "Which one?" PMs from male players will be replied to with a polite refusal.